Over 9,000 Car Service!

RobAnybody

My trusty little Saturn is due for its 120,000 mile service, and I am curious about what the best course of action would be. Should I take it to a Saturn dealer or a private mechanic? What might be a ballpark cost for said service? Anyone else dealt with Saturn dealers and has the experience been a good one?

I have researched some of the dealers in my town, but numbers seem to vary wildly and it's hard to get a comprehensive list of what they'll be doing. This problem is compounded by the fact that I don't know jack all about cars. I do have a family friend who is a mechanic, and I have been considering taking this to him to see if he can handle small stuff that the dealer would charge me an arm and a leg for.

Any info or past experiences would be greatly appreciated!

eternalbl

RobAnybody wrote: »

My trusty little Saturn is due for its 120,000 mile service, and I am curious about what the best course of action would be. Should I take it to a Saturn dealer or a private mechanic? What might be a ballpark cost for said service? Anyone else dealt with Saturn dealers and has the experience been a good one?

I have researched some of the dealers in my town, but numbers seem to vary wildly and it's hard to get a comprehensive list of what they'll be doing. This problem is compounded by the fact that I don't know jack all about cars. I do have a family friend who is a mechanic, and I have been considering taking this to him to see if he can handle small stuff that the dealer would charge me an arm and a leg for.

Any info or past experiences would be greatly appreciated!

If the car's warranty is expired, take it to your friend with the owners manual and between the manual and your mechanic you'll have a good idea of what needs to be done and what stuff is suggested just to empty your pockets to the dealership.

If the warranty on the car is still good, just suck it up and get your servicing done with them until it's expired. If anything major happens, it would really suck to have a warranty claim questioned and then denied because they say there was a lack of maintenance.

Pheezer

I assume this is the timing belt servicing? Depending on your car it might be simple or it might require an engine jack. At least google what needs to be replaced and see if it's something you can do.